How Much Is Caviar? | Why Does Caviar Cost So Much?

None of the world's other foods can compare in price to caviar, which comes in varieties like almas white beluga that sell for $25,000. However, not all salted eggs are created equal, and prices can vary by several digits depending on the specifics of your purchase and the vendor you choose. Most consumers don't understand why their caviar costs what it does, despite the fact that some varieties are much more reasonably priced than others. The wide variety of cured fish, crustacean, and mollusk eggs available to the general public, from rare beluga caviar to salty capelin roe, can lead to price confusion for those without prior caviar-buying experience.

Let's find out why some caviars cost so much more than others when others sell for much less:

Just what causes caviar's exorbitant price tag?

There are typically 5 main components that determine the final price of a given caviar:

1. Fish species (the availability or lack thereof)
2. How long it takes for roe to mature.
3. Producing and assembling (items)
4. Varying degrees of salted roe quality.
5. The law of supply and demand (access to resources and consumer interest)

Obviously, this generalization isn't all-inclusive and can't pinpoint every cost component of every roe type from every available source worldwide; however, by dissecting the above 5 items, we can get a broader view of how caviar products get their price tags. Inextricably linked to the rarity of the eggs themselves and the costs of processing them is the high price tag that caviar producers must bear. So, let's take a deeper look at the five primary cost drivers.

The cost of caviar can vary depending on the species of fish used to produce it.

The species of animal from which a caviar was harvested is a major factor in determining its price. The price of caviar is explained in this post, but before we get into that, it's important to distinguish between real caviar and salted fish roe. The sturgeon that produces the world's most expensive caviar is a member of a species group that humans have nearly wiped out.  

At the height of Russian Imperialism in the late 19th century, sturgeon caviar was introduced to the upper classes. Since then, the rarity of a given species has been the primary factor in setting market prices. The rapid decline in the availability of wild sturgeon roe throughout the twentieth century was primarily attributable to the high demand for caviar. In a short amount of time, fishermen found that catching fish with the potential to be used to make caviar was the most lucrative endeavor available to them; this led to an increase in the harvesting of sturgeon species, which in turn increased the rarity of these fish and drove up the price of authentic caviar.

Sturgeon are "more critically endangered than any other group of species," according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which has listed 18 species in the Acipenseridae family as endangered.  

Some countries still engage in illegal sturgeon fishing and poaching, and the most imperiled sturgeon species have yet to recover from the loss of their natural habitats, the contamination of their water sources, and the impoundment of their spawning grounds. Prices for sturgeon products accurately reflect both their perceived and real scarcity due to the difficulty of studying these fish in the wild.  

Sturgeon and the caviar they produce are now so strictly regulated by governments and international trading initiatives that it is nearly impossible to get (let alone afford) anywhere in the world. The current cost of caviar is affected by the vital efforts made to keep these species from going extinct. The final result is that the demand for caviar is increased by its relative scarcity. Price typically increases in relation to the degree of difficulty in obtaining the product.

For the benefit of modern consumers, another caviar supplier has emerged. Products from Beluga, Kaluga, Osetra, Sevruga, Siberian, and other threatened sturgeon species are now available to mainstream consumers thanks to sustainable farming techniques developed in the late 20th century. Sturgeon caviar would be much more expensive now than at any point in history if not for the developments in aquaculture technology.

Timing of Roe's Generation

When raising crustaceans, mollusks, or fish, the time it takes to reach maturity is an important factor in the bottom line. Sturgeon and other fish can release millions of eggs simultaneously during spawning in the wild. Fewer sturgeon hatchlings make it to adulthood due to the long life span of the species, so faster maturing fish species are better able to meet human demand for their meat and eggs. Sturgeon take about three times as long to replenish populations in the wild as salmon, trout, or bowfin do (and are much more expensive to raise in captivity) due to their long generation lengths (between 8 and 20 years).

The time it takes for a fish to reach sexual maturity and reproduce has a direct impact on the price it can be sold to consumers for. Depending on the species, it can take female fish anywhere from a few years to several decades to reach sexual maturity and begin producing roe that is considered desirable for reproduction. Sturgeon caviar farmers have it especially tough because it takes so long before they see a profit from their fish. Additionally, if roe isn't harvested at the proper time in the fish's life, the caviar may be wasted or sold at a lower price due to its inferior quality.

Producing and Collecting Caviar

It takes a long time for the roe that is the main component of caviar to mature enough to be harvested, and then there are additional steps involved in the manufacturing process, such as washing, curing, inspecting, and aging the roe. The caviar harvester typically kills the fish once they reach the proper maturity level to harvest the roe. Is it even possible to fathom waiting ten years for a sturgeon to reach maturity, only to have it killed, and the whole process repeated? While no-kill caviar is a step in the right direction, it is not yet at the same quality level as traditional caviar harvesting methods. Here you will find information on the many techniques used to gather the ingredients for caviar and prepare the finished product.  

When a fish reaches maturity, it can be "milked" or "harvested" for its roe. Regardless of the method, egg collection is a laborious process that calls for expert attention and care. Despite all of our modern technological advancements, caviar harvesters still do everything by hand, including the removal of fish roe. Due to their raw state, unsalted eggs are particularly vulnerable to contamination, so the entire screening and washing process must be conducted in a sterile environment. Even at the most cutting-edge farms and fisheries, the cost to produce caviar is high due to the product's unique fragility.

For the finest caviar, the eggs must be processed according to the malossol model, which requires specialized knowledge and packaging. Luxury caviar costs more than other seafood because its curing process strikes a delicate balance between enhancing the roe's flavor and keeping it fresh for as long as possible.

Due to its delicate nature, Malossol caviar must be handled with care at all stages of its life cycle, from harvest to storage to transport.

The Caviar's Quality (Caviar Ratings)

The market value of caviar rises and falls with the quality of the product, just like the value of any other commodity. Individual grains of fish roe can vary greatly from one another, even when they come from the same species of fish and were harvested at the same time and from the same location. A roe's price will go up or down depending on whether or not its producers consider it to be of above- or below-average quality.

Retailers of caviar employ numerical grading systems to describe the quality of their wares based on criteria such as the eggs' color, size, maturity, separation, uniformity, fragrance, lucidity, firmness, and flavor. As the eggs are inspected for any visible indicators that disqualify the product from being considered "#1," the initial grading may take place before any salt curing has taken place. Grade 1 roe, also known as A-Grade roe, is the highest quality roe available and represents the species' ideal. Grade 2, also known as B-Grade, is always the cheaper option because it has smaller, wetter, and softer beads than #1 product.  

After the roe has been properly salted and aged, all of the above considerations are given another look. Malossol cured caviar is invariably more expensive than its saltier and/or chemically-preserved counterparts. Luxury caviar should be low in salt and consistently firm, with a fine texture, large, whole grains, and a pleasant color, aroma, and flavor. Products that are on the cusp between Grade 1 and Grade 2 but not quite "kitchen caviar" in terms of size and aesthetic appeal are often given the Select grade label. Classic and Royal are typical marketing terms for roe that falls in the middle of the quality spectrum; supreme and imperial are reserved for the largest pearls and rarest colors. Every caviar vendor relies heavily on these and related terms to communicate their grading scale to consumers and generate unique offerings. Even though it's easy to get lost in the shuffle of caviar names, you can find some much-needed explanation here.

Classic Russian species like the Beluga are also rated by their egg color and size according to older scales. The eggs used to be numbered from 0 to 00 and then to 000. The number "0" is typically used to designate the smallest eggs, those with the darkest gray coloring, those in the "00" range, and those with the lightest gray coloring, which tends toward silver, as the "000" range. Since the wild supply of classic caviar sturgeon is no longer sustainable, this system is rarely used today; however, some vendors may still use the 0, 00, 000 grades.

The Interplay of Supply and Demand

Finally, the price of caviar is determined by the age-old law of supply and demand. The high demand for caviar coupled with the limited supply is what has kept the price of this luxury food at a premium for so long. To eat caviar is to be seen as affluent and royal; its exclusive association with the upper crust has made it a highly sought-after delicacy.  

Over the past few decades, caviar's popularity has skyrocketed. Even though farmers have made strides toward meeting consumer demand for caviar, the industry has reached unprecedented heights in terms of sales volume thanks to expanding markets and novel applications for caviar. Where are current caviar prices? Scarcity and high demand combine to drive up costs when they are factored together.

Cost of Caviar

Typically, more expensive caviar comes from rare sturgeon species that take a long time to develop roe, while more affordable caviar and fish roe come from more abundant species that can produce eggs in a shorter amount of time. The value of caviar is determined by the caviar production method plus the rarity of caviar times the caviar price.

While most sturgeon roe on the market today comes from fish farms, the vast majority of non-sturgeon and lower-end caviar is still harvested from the wild. The cost of roe can vary from fish to fish depending on factors such as species, roe quality, and rarity (processor-assumed costs). Price of true caviar now reflects the costs incurred by farms to raise sturgeon and process the caviar as demand has shifted from wild-caught sources to farm-raised.

Rare: The same innovations in aqua farming and production technology that have made raising fish more efficient and cost-effective than ever have also made it possible to supply a greater number of customers with a wider variety of consistently high-quality roe products. While wild populations work toward a natural recovery, the price of fine sturgeon roe has decreased slightly due to the increase in the number of aqua farms raising sturgeon for caviar.

Just how much does the most expensive caviar cost?

Pure malossol beluga sturgeon roe is consistently the most expensive caviar due to its rarity and processing costs, though there are a few non-fish roes that compete for the title, such as white escargot caviar. Despite being the largest freshwater fish in the world, beluga are rarely seen in the wild due to their high cost of maintenance and limited availability. Almas from rare Iranian Albino Beluga sturgeons is the most expensive caviar in the world, according to the Guinness World Book of Records. Diamond in Russian is "Almas," and these white pearls (which cost $34,500 for 1 kilogram) are certainly deserving of their name. These caviars come from wild Caspian Sea beluga that are 60 years old or older and have rare pigmentation defects. Buying the world's most expensive caviar in the United States could end up costing you more than the price tag indicates due to the scarcity of Caspian Sea sturgeon and the prohibition on importing any products containing wild Iranian beluga.

Strottarga Bianco, a new contender for the highest price caviar, has emerged in recent years. However, some people do not consider it to be true caviar due to an unusual ingredient. This caviar, like the Almas above, is harvested from an albino sturgeon, but the eggs are infused with 22-karat gold. It costs $40,000 for a teaspoon of Strottarg Bianco, which was developed by Austrian fish farmer Walter Gruell.

Find the cheapest caviar, please.

The cheapest roes are capelin, lumpfish, and tobiko, and they sell for about $1 per ounce when salted and preserved. Quality alternatives to "real" caviar can be found in the $5 to $15 per ounce range in the form of malossol-cured non-sturgeon roes and bottargas. If we're only talking about authentic caviar (caviar from sturgeon), then Hackleback caviar is the most cost-effective option. The American sturgeon, also known as the Shovelnose Sturgeon, is one of the more rapidly reproducing sturgeon species. At 38 inches, it's mature and produces small, firm caviar with the classic wild sturgeon's characteristics and flavors.

The Ultimate Conclusion Regarding the Cost of Caviar

There is a wide range in caviar prices because of variables like the type of animal the roe comes from, the length of time the roe spends maturing, and the complexity of the production process. how well the roe is processed, how much of it is on the market, and how much of a price swing there is

Although the production of genuine caviar still requires a significant investment of time and money, the once-extinct species of sturgeon whose roes are used to make caviar have recently become more affordable. success in sturgeon farming, along with regulations meant to safeguard wild populations, is entirely responsible.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturgeon

https://wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/endangered_species/sturgeon/